Thanks for the Flowers
by mysticalweather
Summary: Apologies don't take away the hurt. Legacy tag scene. Daniel and Janet pre-ship


"Well, this is a switch," said a voice from the doorway.

Janet had to smile as Daniel approached her bed in the infirmary and held out a vase of beautiful wild flowers.

Such a shame.

"I appreciate the gesture, Daniel, but those will kill my allergies."

"Not to worry," Daniel said as he set the flowers down on a nearby table. "These are a special variety of flowers from P7J-989...they don't have any pollen. They don't bother my allergies, so I'm hoping they won't bother yours either."

"No pollen?" Janet repeated. "That's amazing. Thanks, this was very thoughtful of you."

Daniel gave her a smile as he pulled a chair over to her bedside. "So how do you like the shoe being on the other foot?" he teased.

Janet sighed. "Doctors make the worst patients...everyone knows that. Fortunately this is just a brief precaution...as soon as my blood tests return to normal I'll be released."

"Yeah, Jack and Sam were released a little while ago."

Janet nodded, "I'm still waiting for my latest test results to come in. Shouldn't be much longer. Then I can go check up on Teal'c."

"Teal'c's fine, his symbiote has completely recovered from Machello's device. I'm pretty sure he's in the middle of a Kel'no'rim cycle right now."

"That's a good sign," Janet replied. "And how about you?"

She instantly regretted asking. His entire body visibly stiffened as the words left her mouth.

"How about me?" Daniel asked as he crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow at her. And Janet couldn't miss the edge that had crept into his voice.

'So he is a little miffed', Janet thought noting his response. 'And with good reason.'

"I know I said this earlier, but I really am sorry about all this, Daniel."

He shrugged in response. "I know."

"Right." God, why did this have to be so difficult? "I'm sorry we jumped to the wrong conclusion, but we didn't know what else to do."

No response. His arms were no longer crossed, but his eyes were now fixed firmly on the floor.

Understanding dawned on Janet...he wasn't mad at her, he was hurt. Hurt that she gave up on him. Hurt that she didn't have enough faith in him to give him the benefit of the doubt. Hurt that she hadn't listened when he insisted that he wasn't crazy.

She felt like she'd just been punched in the stomach.

Unable to trust her voice, Janet closed her eyes and the two sat in silence.

There was no excuse for her actions, and she knew it. She had failed him. Had it not been for Teal'c, Daniel might well have spent the rest of his life in that mental facility. The very thought sickened Janet.

"Why?"

Her eyes flew open. The silence had been so permeating that his voice surprised her.

Janet bit her lip and gave Daniel a pained look. How was she even supposed to begin answering that? Daniel already knew why...but obviously that explanation hadn't satisfied him.

She sighed, "It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. But Dr. MacKenzie said that between your symptoms and your family history that you..."

"Wait...family history?" Daniel interrupted.

Whoops, guess he didn't know about that part...

Janet nodded unhappily, "MacKenzie has full access to your personnel file...and while you have no family history of schizophrenia, your grandfather's current condition was a major concern of his."

"That figures," Daniel muttered with a sigh. "And you agreed with him?"

"Daniel," Janet said as reached out and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. He didn't pull away from her grip, she took that as a good sign. "Please believe me, I didn't want to, but my hands were tied. MacKenzie is an expert in his field, you were exhibiting worsening symptoms, and we couldn't find any other plausible explanation."

He nodded, seeming to accept her words. Janet pulled her hand away from Daniel's and relaxed back into her pillow. Damn Machello. Six months dead, and he was still causing them problems.

Janet's eyes fell back on the bright flowers sitting cheerfully on the table, in stark contrast to the mood of the room.

"Thanks for the flowers."


End file.
